Processing of fibres



2,803,565 PROCESSING or .FIBRES Harold Sagar, Manchester England, assignor'i to Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, London, England, a corporation of' Great Britain Serial No. 533,229

4Claims. (Cl; 117 13915) This invention relates to improvements in or relating to the processing of fibres, including threads, filaments and the like and more particularly to the treatment thereof with an antistatic lubricant.

During the processing of fibres, particularly continuous filament yarns, a variety of difficulties may arise through frictional contact with metal, glass or porcelain surfaces. Thus the fibres may be damaged or submitted to excessive tension and, in certain cases, undesirable electrostatic charges may be accumulated thereon. It has already been proposed to reduce the tendency to accumulate an electrostatic charge by treating the fibres with an aqueous solution or emulsion containing a lubricating oil and a condensation product of from 2-6 parts by weight of ethylene oxide with 1 part of a higher fatty alcohol. Such a solution or emulsion is, however, not sufliciently stable at the high temperatures involved in some of the stages of fibre processing.

It has now been found that this disadvantage can be overcome and stable compositions can be prepared by using a mixture of different ethylene oxide condensation products.

Thus according to the present invention there is provided a process for improving the processability of fibres which comprises treating the fibres with an aqueous emulsion of a lubricating oil containing a condensation product of 1 molecular proportion of a fatty alcohol with from 1.5 to 5 molecular proportions of ethylene oxide and a condensation product of 1 molecular proportion of a fatty alcohol with from 15 to 30 molecular proportions of ethylene oxide.

The lubricating oil to be used is preferably a low viscosity mineral oil; a suitable viscosity is that giving a time of flow of 40-50 seconds in the Redwood No. 1 viscometer at 20 C. Other desirable characteristics of the oil are:

Specific gravity 0.80-0.85 at 15 C. Aromatic fraction less than saponifiable matter less than 1%. Iodine value less than 2 (Wizs).

The amount of lubricating oil in the emulsion is usually about 3 to 10% by weight and the amount of oil applied to the fibre is preferably about 0.5 to 1.5% by weight of the fibre.

The amounts of the ethylene oxide condensation products, included in the emulsions may be varied as desired, suitable proportions are usually found to be between 0.1 and 1.0% by weight of the emulsion in respect of each condensation product.

The lubricating power of the emulsion at high temperature may be increased by addition of a fatty acid ester such as ethyl stearate or ethyl palmitate. Suitable proportions thereof are from 0.5 to 3.0% by weight of the emulsion.

The fibre processing stages that are assisted by the use of the antistatic lubricant include drawing or draw-twisting operations (in the case of synthetic fibres) and winding,

2,803,565 Patented Aug. 20, 19 57 weaving and knitting. Some of these processes, e. g. drawing or draw twisting may be performed at high speed and at temperatures of from 804.00 C. The antistatic lubricant described above is found to be stable under such conditions and to provide excellent lubrication and to reduce considerably the tendency of the fibres to accumulate an electrostatic charge.

Fibres to which the antistatic lubricant may advantageously be applied include those composed of synthetic polymeric materials such as nylon, polyacrylonitrile, cellulose' acetate or polyethylene terephthalate.

The emulsion may be appliedto thefi'bre or yarnpby spraying using an atomiser type spray; For example yarn may be sprayed during passage from one roller to another during processing or alternatively the yarn may be passed over a lick roller carrying a film of the emulsion in such a Way that the lubricant is transferred from the roller to the yarn.

Application of lubricant to fibre or yarn may also be achieved by immersion of the materials in the emulsion by means of any convenient system of guide rollers or pulleys.

The invention is illustrated but not limited by the following examples in which the parts are by weight.

Example 1 A concentrated oil-in-water emulsion is prepared as follows: 21.6 parts of mineral oil are mixed with 5.4 parts of ethyl stearate or ethyl palmitate or a mixture thereof and 1.4 parts of the condensation product of 1 molecular proportion of cetyl alcohol and 2.5 molecular proportions of ethylene oxide. The mixture is added slowly with stirring to 69.8 parts of water containing 1.8 parts of the condensation product of 1 molecular propor tion of cetyl alcohol and 17 molecular proportions of ethylene oxide.

This emulsion is then passed through a conventional plate or nozzle homogeniser in order to produce a fine dispersion of oil droplets. Homogenisation is carried out below 30 C. The concentrated emulsion may then be diluted as required. Emulsions containing 310 parts of oil per parts are, in general, satisfactory for application to fibres, for example by dipping or spraying, prior to processing. Both concentrated and diluted emulsions are stable at 100 C.

Example 2 64.8 parts of mineral oil are mixed with 12 parts of ethyl stearate or ethyl palmitate or a mixture thereof and 6.0 parts of the condensation product of 1 molecular proportion of cetyl alcohol and 2.5 molecular proportions of ethylene oxide. The mixture is added slowly with stirring to 214.2 parts of water containing 3.0 parts of the condensation product of 1 molecular proportion of cetyl alcohol and 17 molecular proportions of ethylene oxide.

The emulsion may be used for treating fibres as described in Example 1.

Example 3 129.6 parts of mineral oil are mixed with 36 parts of ethyl stearate or ethyl palmitate or a mixture thereof and 6 parts of the condensation product of 1 molecular proportion of cetyl alcohol and 2.5 molecular proportions of ethylene oxide. The mixture is added slowly with stirring to 416.4 parts of water containing 12 parts of the condensation product of 1 molecular proportion of cetyl alcohol and 17 molecular proportions of ethylene oxide.

The emulsion may be used for treating fibres as described in Example 1.

The mineral oil used in the above examples is free from saponifiable matter and unsaturation. The viscosity is that giving a time of flow of 40.50 seconds in the Redwood No. 1 viscometer at 20 C. The specific gravity is 0.80-0.85 at 15 C.

What I claim is: 1. Process for improving the processability of fibres which comprises treating the fibres with an aqueous emulsion'of mineral oil containing a condensation product ofof the ethylene oxide-condensation products in the emulsion being between 0.1 and 1.0% by weight.

a 2. Process for improving the processability of fibres as claimed in claim 1 wherein the mineral oil isa low viscosity mineral oil.

3. Process for improving the processability of fibres as claimed in claim 1 wherein the emulsion contains a fatty acid ester.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein said fibres are composed of a synthetic polymeric material selected from the group consisting of nylon, polyacrylonitrile, cellulose acetate and polyethylene terephthalate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 11 9 9 578 s nqcn au 211 1954, 2,164,431 Schoeller July 4, 1939 2,695,270 Jefferson Nov. 23, 1954 

1. PROCESS FOR IMPROVING THE PROCESSABILITY OF FIBRES WHICH COMPRISES TREATING FIBRES WITH AN AQUEOUS EMULSION OF MINERAL OIL CONTAINING A CONDENSATION PRODUCT OF 1 MOLECULAR PROPORTION OF CETYL ALCOHOL WITH FROM 1.5 TO 5 MOLECULAR PROPORTIONS OF ETHYLENE OXIDE AND A CONDENSATION PRODUCT OF 1 MOLECULAR PROPORTION OF CETYL ALCOHOL WITH FROM 15 TO 13 MOLECULA PROPORTION OF ETHYLCNE OXIDE, THE AMOUNT OF MINERAL OIL IN THE EMULSION BEING ABOUT 3-10% WEIGHT AND THE PROPORTION OF EACH OF THE ETHYLENE OXIDE CONDENSATION PRODUCTS IN THE EMULSION BEING BETWEEN 0.1% BY WEIGHT. 